Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Mary Syme was born about 1829 in Glasgow, Scotland.
She married Alexander Hunter, an ironmonger, on 18 July 1853 and they had two sons.
In the early 1860s Alexander emigrated to New Zealand, Mary arrived with their sons on the Pladda in August 1861.
The family settled in Dunedin where a further two children were born.
When Mary signed the suffrage petition the family were living in Great King St, Dunedin.
Alexander died in 1908 and Mary died on 19 September 1914 at the age of 93.
Her obituary says she 'will always be remembered by her many friends as a true church worker in the earlier days of the Otago Settlement, she being one of the original members of the congregation of the old North Dunedin Church who worshipped in the North Dunedin Town Hall.' She was 'of cheerful disposition, and even although she only found rest after a long and painful illness, she bore her trouble with Christian fortitude.'
Mary is buried with Alexander in the family grave in the Northern Cemetery.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
DCC Cemetery Records http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/facilities/cemeteries/cemeteries-search
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Presbyterian Research Centre https://www.presbyterian.org.nz/archives/